Right off the bat I think it is important to note that I am a HUGE coffee fan, I love the smell, the taste, the varieties available and all of the many different ways you can enjoy it. It wasn’t always the case though. I remember when I was a kid I used to hate the smell of the coffee brewing in the morning, until one day I didn’t anymore. I am not really sure what happened but I feel like I just woke up one morning and it had changed and ever since that day I have had a passion for a good cup of coffee.
I also have the benefit that to date I don’t seem to be affected by caffeine or sugar (*pause while I knock on wood), which is amazing because I can have as much as I want and I don’t have the ups and downs usually associated with caffiene.
I love all types of coffee, a regular cup, an espresso, a latte, cappuccino, macchiato or anything in between. I am constantly learning about the different ways to make coffee and right now in my house the only way that coffee is made is either with a French press or my espresso machine, so delicious coffee every time.
When I moved into my current home, one of my friends (knowing my coffee obsession) got me a coffee grinder that could grind from course to fine and I was pretty excited because it meant I could buy whole beans and grind fresh for every cup!
Throughout the use of my grinder I did notice that it wasn’t always consistent in its grinds, so I once again began to research the world of coffee. To my interest I found out about the burr mill and the fundamental differences between a grinder and a burr mill and with that discovered that I wasn’t getting all I could out of my cup of coffee.
So what’s the difference anyway? Well in a quick and basic way to explain –
Grinders chop up the beans with blades but in the process they can also burn them with the heat that gets generated in the process, this in turn damages the bean and the flavour that one experiences.
A burr mill, essentially crushes the beans at various speeds to obtain the desired grind which does not affect the beans flavour profile as the bean doesn’t get heated.
I decided that I needed to replace my grinder with a burr mill and use my grinder for other things, like herbs and dried peppers. This wouldn’t be an immediate purchase however, as burr mills are considerably more than a grinder.
I discussed and expressed my desire for a burr mill to friends and family and well one Christmas I got my wish and received a Bodum Burr Mill!! I was so excited I couldn’t believe it and also couldn’t wait to make my first cup of coffee with beans freshly ground from it. Well it didn’t disappoint! The coffee tasted sweeter, cleaner and fresher, not to mention the heightened ability to detect the various flavour notes in the different blends.
Bodum Burr Mill
This burr mill can grind from course to very fine with a simple turn of the hopper to the desired grind and it has a timer you can set based on the amount of beans you have in the hopper and it all collects in a Bodum glass container. The timer has a max of 20 seconds which I find is pretty much the perfect amount of time if you are grinding espresso for 2 shots.
Grind Collection
Grind Settings
Hopper
I have become very accustomed to the perfect amount of beans in the hopper, and the time required to grind them every time for whatever I am grinding for and for how many people. The hopper in quite large, for me it is larger than I would ever use as I grind just what I need for what I am making at the time.
The Burr
The mill is easy to clean, I do recommend occasionally using some canned air to really blow all the grinds out of the machine, additionally a little burst to help tidy up is also advantageous. The Bodum collector container and bean hopper can just be popped into the dishwasher or quickly washed out by hand.
If you love coffee and making a cup yourself, investing in a good burr mill will change your coffee experience, I have had mine for about 3 years now and it is still perfect. I highly recommend the Bodum Burr Mill be a staple in your kitchen!
Happy coffee drinking everyone!!
sam
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